Dana Air Closes Abuja Office and 70 Bodies Recovered From The Crash

Dana Airline have shut down their Abuja office. Meanwhile the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) said more than 70 corpses (bodies unrecognizable) have been recovered from the crash site and deposited at Lagos State University Teaching Hospital. LASEMA boss said the residents of the buildings that the plane struck will be evacuated and taken care of.

 

Meanwhile the pilot of the Dana Air plane was an American, co-pilot an Indian and the flight engineer from Indonesia. Among the dead are six Chinese citizens.



The pilot declared an emergency as the plane was on final approach to Murtala Muhammed International Airport, and according to witnesses, the plane appeared to be coming in high with its noise up when it crashed, hitting the ground tail first. Continue to see photos from the crash...

Dana Plane That Crashed Had Past Mechanical Problems.

The Dana Air MC Donnell Douglas MD 83, which crashed  in Iju-Ishaga, Lagos, on Sunday, has had a history of mechanical  problems even before original owners, US-based Alaska Airlines, sold it  to Dana Airlines on February 17, 2009.



The Aviation Safety Network, an exclusive service of the Air Safety  Foundation (ASF), in a statement on Monday, revealed that the ill-fated  aircraft was acquired by Alaska Airline in November 13, 1990.



Twelve years later, on November 4, 2002, the aircraft developed  mechanical faults and had an emergency diversion due to smoke in the  cabin area, which engineers said was because light ballast had over  heated.

On August 20, 2006, passengers had to be evacuated after landing at  Long Beach, California, due to a chaffed wire bundle that discharged and  produced smoke in the cabin area again. Subsequently, Alaska Airlines,  on August 21, parked the aircraft until September 11 2008 when it  carried out maintenance work on it. Five months after repairs where concluded, on February 2009, Alaska Airlines sold the aircraft, as 5N-RAM, to Dana Airlines.



See, Nigeria is a dumping ground. Americans reject the plane, Indians buy it and bring it to Nigeria, playing with people's lives. Hope some people are arrested for this. Continue reading...





This year, unconfirmed sources at the airline have revealed that the plane has experienced minor faults twice.

On May 23, after passengers had boarded the aircraft, it was  allegedly delayed from take-off at the Lagos airport as mechanics  discovered some faults and changed the hydraulic fluid under the left  side under carriage tyre mechanism.



When Dana Airlines was contacted for their reaction, an official of  the carrier, who did not want his name published, said that an official  statement would be issued by the company.



The MD-83 was manufactured in 1983, announced go-ahead on January  31, 1983 and had first flight on December 17, 1984. It was a longer  range development of the basic MD-81/82 with higher weights, more  powerful engines, increased fuel capacity and longer range.  It was  equipped with slightly more powerful 21,000 1bf Pratt and Whitney  JT8D-219s as standard.



The aircraft also had higher operating weights with MTOW increased  to 160,000 1b and MLW to 139,500 1b. Typical range for the MD-83 with  155 passengers in around 2,504 nautical miles (4,637km).



Timeline of fatal plane crashes in Nigeria

November 20, 1969 – Nigeria Airways BAC VC10 crashes on landing in Lagos, killing 87 on board.

January 22, 1973 – Royal Jordanian Airlines Flight 707 crashed in Kano. All 171 Nigerians returning from Mecca and 5 crew members died.

March 1, 1978 – Nigeria Airways F28-1000 crashes in Kano, killing 16.

November 28, 1983 – Nigeria Airways F28-1000 crashes on approach in Enugu, killing 53 on board.

July 11, 1991 – Nigeria Airways DC-8-61 crashes in Jeddah, killing 261 on board.

September 26, 1992 – Nigerian Air Force A C-130 plane crashes minutes after take-off from Lagos, killing 200 on board.

June 24, 1995 – Harka Air Services Tupolev 34 crashes on landing in Lagos, killing 16.

November 13, 1995 – Nigeria Airways Boeing 737-2F9 crashes on landing in Kaduna, killing 9.

November 7, 1996 – A Nigerian ADC Airline Boeing 727-231,  flying from Port Harcourt to Lagos with 142 passengers and 9 crew  members crashed on landing, plunging into a lagoon with all on board  killed.

January 31, 1997 – SkyPower Express Airways Embraer 110PIA crashes on landing in Yola, killing 5.

January 5, 2000 – SkyPower Express Airways Bandeirante 110P1A crashes on landing in Abuja, killing 17.

May 4, 2002 – Nigerian EAS Airlines’ BAC 1-11-500, with 105  people on board, crashed and burst into flames in a densely populated  suburb of Kano. 76 on board killed, including 72 on the ground bringing  it to a total 148 dead.

October 22, 2005 – A Nigerian Bellview Airlines Boeing 737  airliner, with 117 people on board, crashes and disintegrates in flames  shortly after take-off from Lagos. All on board were killed.

December 10, 2005 – A Nigerian Sosoliso Airlines DC-9  crashes in Port Harcourt, killing all 103 on board. Most of the victims  were schoolchildren going home for Christmas.

September. 17, 2006 – A Nigerian 18-seater Dornier 228 Air  Force transport plane, carrying 15 senior army officers and three crew  members, crashed in Benue leaving only three survivors that sustained  serious injuries.

October 29, 2006 – A Nigerian ADC Airline Boeing, 737 with  104 on board, crashes minutes after take-off from Abuja’s airport during  a rain storm. All but 6 perished in the disaster.



Culled from Daily Times

Lagos State Governor Rescues 3 Kids Whose Parents Died In The Dana Plane Crash.
The parents of Joel Okechukwu (11), Chisom Okechukwu (9) and Esther  Okechukwu, sent them on an errand yesterday afternoon and a few minutes after the young children left the house, the Dana plane crashed into their home, killing their parents, Jeremiah and Josephine Okechukwu.



The children were this afternoon rescued by Governor Fashola who was at the crash site to inspect the sad incident. The governor asked his aides to take the children to Government House where they will be taken care of until relatives of the children show up. The children were wandering near the crash site when Governor Fashola spotted them and heard their sad story.

 

Dana Air Finally Releases Official Statement
The Dana Air family is deeply saddened by the tragic loss of the  passengers and crew of Flight 9J-992 of Sunday, June 3, 2012. The  aircraft, with Registration Number 5N-RAM, departed Abuja for Lagos with  146 passengers onboard. 1 Dana Air Flight Engineer, 2 Pilots and 4  Cabin Crew were also aboard the flight.



We extend our deepest sympathies to the families and friends of the  deceased, and we are doing everything we can to assist them in this  extremely difficult time. A 24hr Call Centre service has been initiated  and we have also set up an information center at MMA2 to look after  their needs and keep them as quickly informed as possible.







An investigation into the cause of the accident got under way  immediately, under the guidance of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority  (NCAA), who are being assisted by investigators from the U.S. National  Safety Transportation Board (NTSB). Dana Air is cooperating fully and  assisting the investigation in every possible way.



In accordance with international protocol governing aviation accident  investigations, all information about the investigation will come from  the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority. Dana Air will however provide  information relating to the flight itself and updates on steps being  taken.



Once again, we at Dana Air extend our profoundest condolences.

Jacky Hathiramani

Chief Executive Officer                   




 

John I. Nnorom, a Former Executive Director For Finance At Air  Nigeria, Warns Nigerians.
John I. Nnorom, a former Executive Director for Finance at Air  Nigeria, has warned Nigerians to stop flying the airline until they are  sure that its planes are being properly maintained.

In a blistering public petition, Mr. Nnorom, who resigned his  appointment with the airline on April 1, 2012, blamed the situation on  big businessman Jimoh Ibrahim, the chairman of Air Nigeria, whom he  accused of being uninterested in the maintenance of company aircraft.

“Some of the certifying Engineers and I are under threat of  assassination by Barrister Jimoh Ibrahim, if we reveal this secret to  Nigerians,” he said.Mr. Nnorom said that upon his resignation, he wrote a letter in which  he said he preferred to die than to be a witness to over 100 souls  perishing in an Air Nigeria aircraft.





He disclosed that Air Nigeria is in financial crisis because money  loaned by Bank of Industry of N35.5Billion has been diverted into Mr.  Ibrahim’s NICON INVESTMENT LTD, a non-finance company popularly called  wonder bank, leading to air safety being compromised, and stressed that  there is a great possibility of a disastrous Air Nigeria crash, which  can occur at any time.

He recalled that in Jan 2012, Licensed Engineers in Air Nigeria went  on strike because they were being forced to certify unfit aircraft into  the air, and another strike was averted in March 2012 following the  intervention of the DG-NCAA, Demureen.  Both events, he said, were based  on failure on Failure To Meet Safety Standard, and are verifiable  information the public is aware of.



Why are Air Nigeria flights sometimes delayed for as many as eight  hours?  According to the petitioner, that is because the aircraft for  that flight is not ready.  “While passengers are waiting, engineers are  battling to put the aircraft on Air.  Several times our Aircraft on  Runway taxing to takeoff, turns back to offload passengers due to some  technical faults observed by Pilots.”



He said that of the 11 aircraft being operated by Air Nigeria, only  one, Embraer, is safe to fly Nigeria Air space, with all of the others  needing “deep and heavy” technical maintenance.

“This explains why Air Nigeria has never operated more than six  Aircraft out of eleven Aircraft. Air Nigeria do not have the money to  fix these Aircrafts. Let anybody go and check now, some of the Aircraft  and Engines have been grounded for the past one year.”



Mr. Nnorom even advised Nigerians who choose to take the risk of  flying Air Nigeria not to eat or drink anything, pointing out that  passengers have been poisoned because Air Nigeria serves bottled pure  water, and that passengers have complained of being served “smelling  waters.”



Mr. Nnorom further claimed in the petition that Mr. Ibrahim’s  companies, including Air Nigeria, do not have tax clearance  certificates.  He listed the others as Global Fleet Oil & Gas, NICON  Insurance, Nigeria RE-Insurance, NICON Properties Ltd, Nicon Luxury,  Nicon Hotels Okitipupa, VGC & PHC, Newswatch Communications,  Newswatch Daily and National Mirror.



“In Air Nigeria, just to renew expatriate resident permit, Bar Jimoh  Ibrahim will instruct a vendor to forge all the tax clearance papers  which is filed with the immigration.”



Mr. Nnorom alleges that Mr. Ibrahim:

   •    As the chairman of Air Nigeria, has diverted N5billion From a  BOI aviation industry intervention loan Of N35.5billion granted last  year by the federal government through the Central Bank of Nigeria into  NICON INVESTMENT LTD;



 •    Diverted $18m Out Of $40m Afrixim federal government support of  the aviation industry; with $26,969,505.63 diverted into Mr. Ibrahim’s  acquisition of Energy Bank of Ghana;



 •    Diverted N10 billion released by the government through the  office of the Accountant-General of Nigeria for the payment of  pensioners into Nicon Insurance Plc released the sum of, with no  pensioner being paid.

Mr. Nnorom insisted that Mr. Ibrahim is trying to kill him, and  attached his letter of resignation and subsequent acknowledgement by the  CEO and FOREIGN LEASSORS to the petition.



“On the SFU, recovery of $75,000 from me, I was never arrested, never  invited by SFU, did not make any statement, I do not know how money was  recovered from me,” he said.  “I am ready to sponsor any person to come  with me to SFU and show me my statement,” attributing the matter to Mr.  Ibrahim’s “poor character of cheap blackmail.”



According to the former Executive Director, “Jimoh Ibrahim is after  my life but if my death will save hundred Nigerian souls from plane  crash and that is the will of GOD, my soul will be happy to meet my  creator anytime.”



Culled from Saharareporters

Mr president caught wiping tears from his eyes at the site of the Dana plane crash today.

10 Killed In Cargo Plane Crash In Ghana's Capital

A Boeing 727 cargo plane attempting to land at the international airport in Ghana's capital crashed Saturday, slamming into a bus loaded with passengers on a nearby street, killing all 10 people inside the vehicle, emergency responders and airport officials said that the crash occurred in Accra near Kotoka International Airport, which sits near newly built high-rise buildings and hotels. Witnesses said the plane first smashed through the fence that runs around the airport before hitting the bus.Local television showed images of the plane lying across a road with its tail damaged as the flight crew jumped off and received help from emergency responders. Police and soldiers quickly cordoned off the neighborhood where the plane crashed. Billy Anaglate, spokesman for the Ghana Fire Service, said that all 10 passengers in the bus were killed on impact. The plane's four crew members survived the crash and were rushed to a local hospital for treatment."What happened is that the Allied (Air) Cargo plane, actually I was told, was traveling from Nigeria to Ghana. At the landing it was short of the boundary, and it went off onto the roadside. It crashed into a bus," said Anaglate, who was reached by telephone late Saturday. "... (The plane) broke the barrier and went onto the road and hit the vehicle and unfortunately in the vehicle everyone ended up dying. The poor people were killed." Doreen Owusu Fianko, the chief executive of the Ghana Airport Co., said that operations at the airport had returned to normal after the crash Saturday. Fianko, who addressed reporters at a press conference hours after the accident, said the plane was coming from Lagos, the commercial capital of Nigeria, when it crashed after a failed landing attempt. Witnesses said the plane was labeled as belonging to Allied Air Cargo, a fact confirmed by Anaglate. The name and symbols on the aircraft matched those of the Nigerian air freight company based out of Lagos. Telephone numbers for the company in London, Lagos and the Nigerian city of Port Harcourt rang unanswered Saturday night.  Ghana, a nation of more than 25 million in West Africa, has not had a major airplane crash in recent years. The last air emergency the country had was in June 2006, when a TAAG Linhas Aereas De Angola flight to Sao Tome hit birds during takeoff. The plane landed safely and none of the 28 people onboard were injured.  Ghana's Vice President John Dramani Mahama ordered aviation officials to launch an investigation. "I urge you to conduct preliminary investigations as early as possible," Mahama said in front of reporters at a news conference Saturday. "And no early conclusions should be drawn to the cause of the accident," Mahama added.